Help me catch people who screw up the park

[basinbeater]

I live a wholesome life across the street from a beautiful park. I take my two beautiful children down to play soccer on the immaculate green grass underneath the blue sky. My dogs ears fly in the wind as they stretch their legs at full speed as the smell of cut grass floods their nostrils. It is a quaint and satisfying existence.
At least it used to be. Now I want revenge.
This has happened once or twice in the past several years, but this year, it has has happened multiple times. People think it is fun after the rain to go do donuts on the field, it tears it up and leaves muddy tire tracks that take months to fill back in. screws up the field for soccer, and the stupid dogs of course wrestle in the muddy tracks (because doing it in the rest of the field with grass is impossible). It has happened 3 different times since mid summer, and it really does jack the field up pretty good. Most recent was wednesday or thursday night...

Now, to catch the bastards...
I have figured out where they like to enter the field from, and I want to get my hands on a motion activated wildlife camera to catch the shit heads in the act. A few questions...

Do these cameras work to track vehicles?
Would it pick out a license plate late at night?
How cheap can I get one for?
Options to attach to a tree super secure so someone doesn't snag it off the tree?
Anyone local got a camera I can borrow?

It was fun playing detective with my kids, and now the three of us want to catch whoever it is. Let's catch em...

[ötzi]

Trail cams are motion-activated, so yes a car would trigger one.


maybe put some of these out next time it rains? https://www.etsy.com/listing/1084641...RoCadgQAvD_BwE

They might have to be on a hard surface to work, like the asphalt right where they go in.

[basinbeater]

I like it. Would love to have the jackasses blow their tires out and be stuck in the park. They go over a curb and sidewalk to get in. But MTBers also go into the park at the same spot. They wouldn't like it so much. OOOH. What we could do, would be to hammer in spikes right next to the sidewalk, like against the concrete edge, big enough for a mtber to avoid, but at night, busting into the park, pop pop pop....

[Iowagriz]

2x6 with nails that could be placed and removed as needed?

I don't actually endorse that as it would probably come back to you in a negative way.

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[Phall]

basin, camofire.com (local to SLC) has trail cam deals on tuesdays. they do have cellular ones which will text you images as they happen, but require a plan and can get pricey. Standard camera should cost ~80-300 depending on quality. Better quality, better imagery. Also, if it's attached to a public tree at the park, be sure to lock it, and maybe talk to the maintenance crew and tell them what's up so they don't cut it down.

[Core Shot]

Younger you. Is upset.
You used to be the punk kid doing doughnuts.
Don’t call the cops on yourself.

Do more doughnuts.

[oldnew_guy]

Ghillie suit

[basinbeater]

I did donuts in church parking lots with snow like it was my job. I still do on occasion. I didn't and don't trash parks.
My kids are annoyed at the damage to the park as they are frequent users. I explained to them the selfish nature of those who tore up the grass for 30 seconds of fun. I will teach them to do donuts in church and school parking lots just like I used to.

[Core Shot]

I did donuts in church parking lots with snow like it was my job. I still do on occasion. I didn't and don't trash parks.
My kids are annoyed at the damage to the park as they are frequent users. I explained to them the selfish nature of those who tore up the grass for 30 seconds of fun. I will teach them to do donuts in church and school parking lots just like I used to.

Fair cop.

Yeah. Most of my doughnuts were in church lots etc.
much like you.
I hated having to clean or explain the turf in my wheel wells.

And tearing up an athletic field sucks.

[evdog]

Been over 10 yrs, but my experience with cameras at night is license plates are often not easy to decipher on the footage. If there isn't much light then it may be too dark to make out the plate number, especially if the plate has dark colors. Too much light nearby and a reflective surface on the plate can cause the number to get whited out. So, might depend on lighting nearby and what the local plates look like. Cameras in my case were security cameras, and all we got was footage of people stealing some stuff out of our lot with no way to identify them. Hopefully current trail cams are better. Worth trying though. Keep the footage to yourself if you capture them blowing their tires out with the spikes.

[mud]

Have you tried out crazing them?
Just sit out there with your hot thermos, safety vest, and hard hat.
When they show up run up to their truck and rub dog shit under their door handles.

[basinbeater]

Have you tried out crazing them?
Just sit out there with your hot thermos, safety vest, and hard hat.
When they show up run up to their truck and rub dog shit under their door handles.

Now we're talkin ...
With two dogs now, there is lots of dog shit to go around...

[gravitylover]

Put the spike strips out at night after the mountain bikers are done.

[Hott Butt Mud]

Gawd, Utah blows.

[riser4]

In trouble you will be if revenge seeking you are.

[fatnslow]

Gawd, Utah blows.

I don't think this is exclusive to any particular state
Mix in kids behind the wheel and this kind of shit is guaranteed to happen. I'm not condoning this kind of asshat behavior but I was in high school during the last century where this type of thing happened fairly frequently.
A little public shaming definitely would be good medicine for the culprit.

[frorider]

I was hoping this was a newschoolers thread.

[PB]

Living in a college town, and well into my dotage, I've often flown on clouds of righteous fury, chasing students off of our saturated park lawns playing tackle. Amazing that a bean pole geezer can intimidate 20 year old thick necks with a hairy eye ball.

[east or bust]

One of my roommates in college did donuts in a field once but didn’t remember where. My money was at the golf course. We did shame him for it at least.


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[RShea]

Trail cameras may help ID the make and model of the vehicle. Depends on where it is mounted and a few other things. Your mount will also of course have to be so it is not noticeable and ends up being taken down or stolen. Cellular plan maybe needed (depends on a few things including the distance you are from the park, and if there would be any wifi options- public hotspot, etc.)

But especially at night time, do not expect to be unless very lucky or you have some great expensive camera(s) that can do License Plate Recognition (LPR) or you have some really good lighting of the area if you are trying to use standard cameras like trail cams. The other issue you have with the good LPR cameras is they work the best with a narrow focused area (like a gate entrance or drive, etc. and if this is a typical park, they may have a pretty wide area of entry onto the grass and park property...

https://www.cctvcamerapros.com/Licen...eras-s/283.htm has some discussions on the issues and setups. The You Tube link toward the bottom of that page video would show you the difference of a night time video from a standard camera and a LPR camera...

[Hopeless Sinner]

Any neighbors with a view of the entry point have a doorbell cam? Or perhaps a neighbor with a security camera could aim it at the entry point.

[warthog]

Buy the battery operated ring camera and the solar panel.
See if a house near the entrance will let you mount it in their yard, and tie it into their WiFi. Pay the monthly subscription, and you can share the video with the cops when you catch them.

[SB]

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketP...4-00007015.pdf

[gravitylover]

^^ What does that have to do with kids and donuts in the park?

[Touring_Sedan]

I'd paint a few cinder blocks black and plop them inconspicuously at their preferred entrance.